They had what was called, "The Wild West Exchange" at Ogallala at this time, and here the boys challanged one another for feats of doing or daring characteristic of the Wild West. Someone had captured a young buffalo, and had it properly confined. While generally the talk was of horses, and Gordon was expostulating concerning the merit of his horse, as a racer, Coffee told him his horse was not so much, that he could beat it and ride the buffalo. That naturally led to an expression of doubt as to whether the young Texan could stick to the animal.

Gordon and Coffee met only a few days ago, and when Gordon sprung the old incident, Charlie said: "The boys told me that I had a pretty good time at that affair, and looking myself over in the grey light of the morning after, I am confident that they were right." He had ridden the buffalo, but there were a few indications that the buffalo might have stepped on Charlie sometime during the performance.

At the time they were at Ogallala, a noted character named "Fly Speck Bill." his face being well spotted with freckles that had the appearance of fly specks, had been apprehended and placed in the city jail. But the jail was a flimsy affair, and failed to hold him for long. A day or two later, as Coffee was leaving Sidney for the north on the stage, Bill was found to be one of the passengers. At Camp Clarke they separated, and Charlie did not see him again until the following year.